Garment rack



March 18, 1952 R. A. MAGNusoN ErAL 2,589,269

GARMENT RACK Filed Sept. 21, 1945 fla Patented Mar. 18, 1952 GARMENT RACK Raymond A. Magnuson and Nels M. Christiansen, Chicago, Ill., assignors to R. A. Magnuson and A. Magnuson, copartners doing business under the iirm name of Vogel-Peterson Co., Chicago,

Application September 21, 1945, Serial No. 617,716

3 Claims.

This invention relates to collapsible or knockdown garment racks.

Among other objects, the invention aims to provide an improved knock-down rack of few parts which may be easily assembled and collapsed and occupying a small space when collapsed.

Another object of the invention is to improve the assembled rigidity of a rack of this character with lightweight easily assembled members.

A still further object is to provide a rack of this character in which the advantageous fea* tures may be embodied either in a sheet metal or a wood construction depending on choice and relative costs and availability of materials.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the description of one apparatus embodying the invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the assembled rack.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation on plane 2 2 of Fig. 1, of the rack illustrating certainsteps in the assembly of the rack and the manner in which certain members are prestressed to obtain rigidity.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan section taken on plane 3 3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on an enlarged scale and taken approximately on the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Knock-down garment racks provide additional or temporary storage spacewhere desired. When not required they may be disassembled and either stored or moved to another location and rea-ssembled. Heretofore such racks have not been wholly satisfactory either because of numerous parts, difficulty of assembly and lack of compactness for storage, or because of flimsiness or lack of rigidity.

In the illustrative rack the several elements though few in number and light in weight (whether made of wood or sheet metal) are so assembled and interconnected as to provide a rigid and stable rack. The supporting elements comprise two end frames I and II comprising upright posts I2 and a series of cross braces (four in this case) I3, I4, I5 and I6, rigidly connecting the posts together and serving other functions presently described. The posts and cross members may be made of wood or, as here shown, of sheet metal of relatively light gauge bent into channel shape or open-*tube shape of rectangular section. The cross braces I4, I5 and I6 may advantageously be of channel section wherein the base of the channel at each end of the cross Abrace is cut away to permit the channel flanges I6 to straddle the posts and to be appropriately attached thereto as by spot welding. The lower cross brace I3 extends slightly beyond the bottom ends of the post I2 and is reinforced by a supplemental shallow channel I9 located inside the channel of the cross brace I3 and having its flanges flush With the ends of the iianges of the channel I3 (Fig. 4). The two channels are preferably connected together by spot welding or the like. Posts I0 may be connected to the lower cross brace I3 by seating the posts in holes cut in the upper web of the cross brace. A portion of the post end may be bent to form a flange Il (Figs. 3 and 4) lying inside and against the inner face of the cross brace. Also a portion of the latter displaced to form the hole for the post may be bent down to form a flange 20 lying against the post. The joint may then be completed by welding or brazing. The ends of the upper cross braces I6 are seated in notches formed in the top of each of the posts I2by cutting away the inside post face at its top. The cross brace I6 may be further connected with the posts by spot Welding or the like.

The end frames thus constitute two rigid structures which are light in weight and when disconnected from the rack are relatively hat and can be readily stored. The width of the end frames is preferably slightly greater than the width of the garments to be hung in the rack but if desired may either be narrower or wider.

The end frames are spaced from each other and detachably connected at their lower ends by a bottom rail 2| of channel section carrying at its ends connecting elements in the form of downwardly directed hooks 22 adapted to enter sockets 23 on the respective bottom cross braces I3 formed by clips 24 attached to the inner flange of the cross brace preferably midway of its; length. The socket 23 may be somewhat wider `than the thickness of the hook 22 to allow some play for purposes presently explained, without producing any looseness in the assembled rack. Rail 2l may advantageously be of open tubular section similar to that of the posts I2.

Braces 26 extend across the corners between the bottom rail 2| and the end frames I0 and Il and having appropriate connections thereto. In the present instance the braces are hin-ged by ordinary hinges 2l to the inner flanges of the cross braces I4 and when in properly assembled relation the lower ends of braces26 fall behind stops 28 formed by clips welded to the upper brace of the rail 2|. The braces are suiiiciently Wider than rail 2| so that the brace corners 29 straddle the rail and are thereby held against lateral displacement. To seat the braces behind the stops 28 the end frames I0 and may be tilted outwardly relative to the rail 2| (for which purpose the socket 23 allows some play as aforesaid) and thereafter moved inwardly (see Fig. 2) until the braces seat tightly against stops 28. This'tight connection is maintained by appropriately connecting together the upper ends of the frame members by a tension member which pre-stresses the frame members and thereby holds the braces 26 in compression to remove all play and produce a rigid assembly. The end frames whether of metal or wood yield suficiently to permit them to pre-stressed for the aforesaid purposes. The tension member may advantageously be in the form of a garment hanger rail 3| connected to the cross braces |5, the latter being at the desired height for a han-ger rail. In the present instance the rail is notched at 32 at each of its ends to provide a portion 33 extending over and resting upon the cross braces |5. The connection between the hanger rail and the cross braces is here shown (Fig. 3) in the form of a clip 34 connected preferably at the midpoint of the cross braces l and having inturned flanges 35 under which outwardly extending flanges 36 on the hanger rail seat. The latter flanges are formed by angle members connected to the sides of the hanger rail adjacent its ends. The latter may advantageously be of channel section having a rounded contour to provide a rounded top 3l for garment hangers. The length of the hanger rail is adjusted so that when seated in the connecting clips 34 it exerts a bending moment on the side frames to develop compression in the braces 29 for the aforesaid purposes.

A shelf 38 may advantageously rest on the top of the frames l0 and so as to serve both as a cover for the garments and as a shelf. It may be made of sheet metal flanged at its sides and carrying at its ends downwardly extending flat hooks 4| which enter registering slots in the top of the upper cross braces I6.

In disassembling the rack, the shelf and hanger rail are iirst removed thereby releasing the side frames to be moved out as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and withdraw the lower ends of braces 26 from their seats behind the stops 28. The bottom rail 2| may then be removed. The entire rack is thus knocked down and the individual elements which are few in number and light in weight may be readily stored in a small space.

If the rack be made of wood, the posts and cross braces are preferably made of rectangular section and connected together according to conventional wood joining practices. Whether made of sheet metal or Wood, the several elements of the rack are both strong and light in weight.

In assembled condition the rack elements though light in Weight are nevertheless so firmly interconnected as to provide a rigid structure.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the details of the illustrative rack since these may be variously modied. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all features of the invention be used conjointly since various features may be used to advantage in different combinations and subcombinations.

We claim as our invention:

l. A knock-down garment rack comprising, in combination, a pair of end frames each including vertical support elements and a plurality of horizontal cross bars connecting the support elements, brace members hinged to an intermediate one of said cross bars of each end frame, a bottom rail having connections thereon for joining to a lower cross bar of each end frame in a manner to permit swinging movement of said end frames relative thereto and said rail having' seats thereon intermediate its ends to receive the ends of said brace members, and an upper connecting member having connections thereon adjacent its ends, engaging upper cross bars of the end frames for holding said frames drawn t0- gether against the action of said brace members with the latter in compression and having their ends received in said bottom rail seats. 2. A knock-down garment rack comprising. in

combination, a pair of end frames each including vertical support elements and a plurality of horizontal cross bars connecting the SupportI l elements, brace members hinged to an intermereceive the ends of said brace members and an upper connecting member having connections thereon adjacent its ends to engage upper cross bars of the end frames for holding said frames drawn together against the action of said brace members with the latter in compression, said brace members being channel-shaped to receive the bottom rail with the brace members engaging said stops.

3. A knock-down garment rack comprising, in combination, a pair of end frames having a pair of Vertical bars with cross bars at the upper and lower ends thereof, a bottom rail having detachable connections at its opposite ends with the lower cross bars of said end frames engageable as an incident to downward movement of the rail relative to said cross bars, diagonal braces interposed between said end frames and said bottom rail, and an upper rigid connecting member detachably connected at its opposite ends with the upper cross bars of the end frames to hold the end frames drawn together with said braces under compression and acting on the bottom rail to maintain the connection between the ends of said rail and the end frames against disengagement, said end frames being capable of yielding When drawn together for connection by the upper connecting member.

RAYMOND A. MAGNUSON. NELS M. CHRISTIANSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 366,051 Weatherley July 5, 1887 430,340 Eyeles June 17, 1890 543,020 Holmes July 23, 1895 774,272 Poles Nov. 8, 1904 1,099,849 Hammond June 9, 1914 1,113,818 OBrien Oct. 13, 1914 1,596,296 Oberdorfer Aug. 17, 1926 1,655,593 Bulman Jan. 10, 1928 1,895,535 Brecht Jan. 31, 1933 1,940,584 De Saussure Dec. 19, 1933 2,043,036 Duncan June 2, 1936i 

